Myth of You and Me (Stewart)

Book Reviews
The Myth of You and Me is an intricately constructed, heartfelt story about the death of an intense friendship.
Boston Globe


A smart, exceedingly well-written story about the mysteries at the heart of even the most intimate friendships between women. You’ll be reading into the wee hours.
People


Stewart peers into the complicated heart of friendship in a moving second novel (after 2000's Body of a Girl). Ever since a cataclysmic falling out with her best friend, Sonia, after college, Cameron's closest companion has been Oliver, the 92-year-old historian she lives with and cares for in Oxford, Miss. Oliver's death leaves Cameron alone and adrift, until she discovers that he has given her one last task: she must track down her estranged best friend (whose letter announcing her engagement Cameron had so recently ignored) and deliver a mysterious present to her. Cameron's journey leads her back to the people, places and memories of their shared past, when they called themselves "Cameronia" and swore to be friends forever. It was a relationship more powerful than romantic love—yet romantic love (or sex, anyway) could still wreck it. Stewart lures the reader forward with two unanswered questions: What was the disaster that ended their friendship, and what will be revealed when Cameron and Sonia are together again and Oliver's package is finally opened? The book is heartfelt and its characters believable jigsaw puzzles of insecurities, talents and secrets, and if Cameron's carefully guarded anger makes her occasionally disagreeable, readers will nevertheless welcome her happy ending.
Publishers Weekly


Cameron Wilson, 14, is an overly tall army brat and a new kid in town. She begins an intense friendship with classmate Sonia Gray after the two meet while literally saving one another from disastrous situations. The friendship blows up in college.... Then a letter arrives from Sonia.... Cameron chooses to do nothing until Oliver dies and leaves a package for her to deliver personally to Sonia. So begins Camerons journey to find and understand her lost friend and, ultimately, herself. The novel unfolds at an unhurried, graceful pace, moving through flashbacks and memories...and Stewarts notion that friendship can define a life. A poignant and bittersweet story of love. —Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL
School Library Journal


(Starred review.) At 30, Cameron Wilson lives in virtual seclusion with Oliver Doucet, an elderly historian who can't understand why the bright, beautiful young woman seems to be hiding from the world. When...Sonia Grey, sends Cameron a letter out of the blue,...Cameron refuses to answer.... Oliver passes away two months later, [and] he leaves behind a...package [Cameron] must deliver to Sonia.... Stewart's writing is sharp and observant, making this tale of the complexities of friendship affecting and genuine. Kristine Huntley
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